America’s #1 Sailing School® is Celebrating 55 Years!

Now, there are more reasons than ever to book a sail or power learning vacation with Offshore Sailing School. "The instructor was awesome, the course was amazing. I now have a new sense of freedom!" These are the comments we read over and over on evaluations from graduates describing their sailing school experience with an Offshore Sailing School instructor. At Steve and Doris Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School our goal is to ensure learning to sail, cruise or race is not only "amazing," you gain a profound sense of "freedom" too! Our founder and Chairman, Steve Colgate, is one of an elite group of sailors inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame. An Olympian and America's Cup sailor, Steve’s imprint is on every sailing lesson and boating instruction we deliver. Doris Colgate, our President and CEO, founded the National Women’s Sailing Association and Women’s Sailing Foundation. Our instructors are professional educators. Our six locations are in beautiful sailing areas, open year-round. The sailboats and powerboats you learn on provide safe, exciting sailing lessons and powerboat training. If you haven't yet taken a course with Offshore Sailing School, join more than 150,000 graduates, who enthusiastically endorse Offshore Sailing School’s reputation as America’s #1 Sailing School®. If you already are an Offshore Sailing School graduate, welcome back! Advanced courses and fantastic flotilla cruise vacations are waiting for you.

Fast Track to Cruising®- OSS 101/103/104

Our most popular learning adventure takes you from Couch to the Captain’s Chair in just eight days. You earn three US Sailing certifications -- Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising and Bareboat Cruising -- starting with two days on a 26 footer, then six on a gorgeous big cruising monohull or catamaran yacht. At course end you’re ready to pursue the cruising lifestyle with confidence and ease!

Offshore Sailing School's British Virgin Islands sailing school is in the news again. Hot off the press - Elite Traveler Magazine's Summer 2019 issue has a cool story about Offshore and its BVI partners. Learn more . . .

Each year Pace Center for Girls in Lee County, where Doris Colgate resides and works, chooses three women to be honored as Grand Dames for their community, business and philanthropic work. Learn more . . .

Coastal Living's September 2018 features Offshore Sailing School as one of 5 Incredible Getaways Where You Can Learn Something New! Learn more . . .

Learn Sailing and Boating at Offshore Sailing School

Awesome Sailing Education from America’s #1 Sailing School®

At Offshore Sailing School you can learn to sail on fast and stable keelboats, learn to cruise on big spacious sailboats or powerboats, and lean to race high performance sailboats (and win)! At Offshore Sailing School there is a sailing course or power boat course for every level. Learning at Offshore Sailing School comes with many rewards, not the least of which is a lifetime of cruising and boating adventures. And the biggest reward of all is that amazing sense of freedom you get when learning to sail, cruise on sailboats or powerboats, or race sailboats with a professional, super-experienced and certified Offshore Sailing School instructor.

Call 888-454-7015 Today to Embark on Your Personal Boating Lifestyle!

Meet Our Awesome Founders, Steve and Doris Colgate

Click here to see an interview with Steve and Doris Colgate, as they were about to embark on another bareboat cruising adventure. The Colgates want everyone to experience the freedom sailing and boating provides, just as it has done for them over the years. If you get a chance to visit the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis which occurs each year in early October, stop by and have a chat with Steve and Doris. Their enthusiasm for sailing is truly infectious!

Learn to Sail from The Best Teachers in Boating Education

Offshore sailing instructors are caring sailors and mariners with extensive sailing and teaching experience. Their mission is to give you the skills, knowledge and confidence to thoroughly enjoy the sailing lifestyle. The list of Offshore Sailing School awards and accolades is testament to the best sailing instruction, boating programs, and Colgate sailing classes in Florida and the British Virgin Islands. When you learn how to sail, cruise or race at Offshore Sailing School, you learn from the best instructors you’ll find. The boats you learn on in the Offshore Sailing School fleet are carefully chosen and designed for teaching and your sailing comfort. .

The Offshore Advantage at Offshore Sailing School

“The biggest mistake of my sailing career was taking my Basic Keelboat Course in the New York City area with another school and not Offshore. We learned very little with the other school. Bottom line is that from my experience Offshore rocks and is the Harvard, Princeton, Yale of sailing schools.”

Steve Colgate – Offshore Sailing School’s founder, Olympian and America’s Cup sailor, inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2015; celebrated sailing educator who mentors our team and sets the standards for extraordinary sailing and boating education

Doris Colgate – President and CEO who learned to sail at Offshore Sailing School in 1967; founder of the National Women’s Sailing Association, passionate about providing sailing lessons and opportunities for all

Our Graduates – More than 150,000 who have learned to sail and go boating during the more than 55 years Offshore has provided award-winning, sailing lessons and instruction programs

Our Faculty – Highly experienced and professional instructors and managers who care about you; certified by US Sailing and licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard with years of sailing and boating experience

Our Courses – The greatest variety and depth of hands-on sailing lessons and boating lessons available

Our Textbooks – Succinct and comprehensive, complementing our impressive learn to sail course curricula and advanced sailing courses curricula; written by the Colgates and US Sailing and US Powerboating National Faculty

Our Sail and Power Fleet – Learn how to sail, learn how to cruise, become a great racing sailor, or take the helm of a power cruiser, all excellent teaching platforms designed for safety, comfort, and performance

Our Course Certifications – US Sailing and Power Courses providing US Sailing and Power Certification at all levels from the U.S. governing body of sailing, appointed by Congress, recognized by charter companies throughout the world

Our Locations – Offshore’s sailing schools and power schools are located in some of the best places to learn sailing and power boat handling; at great resort-based adventure vacation locations that provide beautiful sailing and boating conditions, allowing you to immerse yourself in a rewarding learning vacation

And Our Graduate Sailing Adventures – Flotilla Cruises led by knowledgeable experts; worldwide destinations to tempt you on every vacation you plan; open to all who love to sail and go boating!

Our Sailing School Guarantee

After you complete a Colgate course offering at Offshore Sailing School, if the sailing instruction you received was not up to your expectations, let us know right away and we will arrange to give you the same course over again, tuition free.Request a Quote

Colgate 26

The Colgate 26 is used in all Learn to Sail, Performance Sailing and Racing courses. Designed by Steve Colgate and naval architect Jim Taylor, the Colgate 26 is a popular high performance keelboat, and used to train plebes and cadets at the U.S. Naval and Coast Guard Academies. Read more...

Newsletter Signup

The Offshore Sailing School newsletter is emailed twice a month to anyone interested in learning more about sailing and boating. It is packed with sailing and boating news, how-to tips, upcoming programs, contests and special deals.